Hi there, Decide for yourself; is this censorship?

All the links below are working, so you can read the original comment that was ALREADY allowed by the moderators, and you can read my replies that were rejected. Cheers, Richard Ajabu From: EDUC BC Education Plan EDUC:EX [mailto:bceducationplan@gov.bc.ca] Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 11:58 AM To: <Richard Ajabu> Subject: Comment # 4012 Unapproved Comment (BC's Education Plan)

Thank you for your submission (see below) to the BCs Education Plan discussion forum. Unfortunately we cant post it as its in violation of #7 of our Moderation Policy. As weve mentioned on our website, though, youre welcome to send your comments to your local MLA (http://www.leg.bc.ca/mla/3-1-1.htm) , a local school board trustee, or to the Ministers Office (EDUC.Minister@gov.bc.ca). Please see our Get Engaged page for more details. If you have future comments specifically suited to the questions on BCs Education Plan wed be happy to consider them for posting to our discussion forum.
From Moderator <redacted> On behalf of the Moderation Team BC's Education Plan http://www.bcedplan.ca

Comment: Submitted on 2012/03/22 at 8:45 pm | In reply to Parent. Sincere thanks, Parent, for sharing your even-handed perspective. Your writing leaves me with the impression that you can see beyond this thorny situation and I appreciate you sharing some of your vision with the rest of us. I agree with your opinion regarding debating whos more important; the teacher or the child thats a false dichotomy and not very helpful. I also think that the cooling off period in Bill 22 is not the hot-button issue for anyone either. Unfortunately, there may be more irony and ambiguity in your statement, How do you expect kids to understand the do as I say, not as I do rationale? than some will realize. Richard Ajabu For example, when the government brought up Bill 22, an exercise of power and authority by a majority government <redacted> that tramples on Charter rights, on the same day (or was it the day after?) as the pink-shirt anti-bullying day it was bound to seem ironic, ambiguous, and hypocritical to teachers. It undermines the education of our children when; on the one hand teachers tell our children that bullying is wrong, and that Canada is a democracy that is founded on the rule of law; and then on the other hand our governments actions (against teachers no less!) contradict those very statements. Lets face it; its wrong and its shameful. While teachers obviously have self interest in their dispute with the government, there is also a common public interest at stake. We should always be vigilant about defending our fundamental rights, especially against repeat offenders like this government. I hope you will agree that for teachers to do less would not be a very good example for our students, nor would it help teachers in their effort to rid themselves of the bullying behaviour of this government.

Parent stated, If the conflict was between two children, we would separate them and allow them time to cool off. Then we would act as a mediator and work towards a solution. Why cant both sides agree to do the same? I think teachers would welcome fair mediation or binding arbitration as a short-term solution to this growing crisis. In fact, they already asked for it. But the terms of reference for the mediator imposed by Bill 22 require the mediator to mediate any solution so long as its consistent with the governments position at the bargaining table. The government is clearly in a conflict of interest between the public trust to govern according to the rule of law, and the public trust to achieve the best deal that it can. The government should bargain in good faith to achieve the best deal that it can. And if it cant bargain an acceptable deal, then the government should resolve the matter at arms length via binding arbitration or some other similarly fair process. If we allow the government to trample the Charter rights of a minority in order to get a better deal for the majority, then what are we teaching our children? Humans have already explored that path and it wasnt pretty; thats why we have Charter rights to protect us from majority whims in our democracy. I made three suggestions to address this crisis in a related comment here. You might also be interested in a related thread here. And I am particularly fond of this related speech by Supreme Court of Canada Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella. Thanks again, Parent, for your even-handed and constructive comment. From: <Richard Ajabu> Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 2:21 PM To: 'EDUC BC Education Plan EDUC:EX' Subject: RE: Comment # 4012 Unapproved Comment (BC's Education Plan) Hi BC Education Plan Moderation Team, In response to Q10: How could teaching assistants and other supports be used so teachers can spend more time focused on teaching? you discredit your team by allowing this comment and then reject my replybecause it was off topic: I hope that my second attempt (immediately below) will somehow meet whatever non-partisan standard your team has applied to approve comments from others Sincerely, Richard Ajabu From: EDUC BC Education Plan EDUC:EX [mailto:bceducationplan@gov.bc.ca] Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 2:33 PM To: <Richard Ajabu> Subject: Comment # 4047 Unapproved Comment (BC's Education Plan)

Good afternoon Richard, this appears to be the same post as earlier and unfortunately it still does not meet moderation policy. We cant post it as its in violation of #7 of our Moderation Policy. As weve mentioned on our website, though, youre welcome to send your comments to your local MLA (http://www.leg.bc.ca/mla/3-1-1.htm) , a local school board trustee, or to the Ministers Office (EDUC.Minister@gov.bc.ca). Please see our Get Engaged page for more details. If you have future comments specifically suited to the questions on BCs Education Plan wed be happy to consider them for posting to our discussion forum.

From Moderator <redacted> On behalf of the Moderation Team BC's Education Plan http://www.bcedplan.ca

Comment: Submitted on 2012/03/23 at 2:08 pm | In reply to Parent. Sincere thanks, Parent, for sharing your even-handed perspective. Your writing leaves me with the impression that you can see beyond this thorny situation and I appreciate you sharing some of your vision with the rest of us. In response to your comment and the question for this forum, I think there are other supports that could be used so teachers could spend more time focused on teaching. I agree with your opinion regarding debating whos more important; the teacher or the child thats a false dichotomy and not very helpful. It is not a support that could be used so teachers could spend more time focused on teaching. I also think that the cooling off period in Bill 22 is not the hot-button issue for anyone either. A cooling off period could be a support that could be used so teachers could spend more time focused on teaching. Unfortunately, there may be more irony and ambiguity in your statement, How do you expect kids to understand the do as I say, not as I do rationale? than some will realize. For example, when the government brought up Bill 22, an exercise of power and authority by a majority government that tramples on Charter rights, on the same day (or was it the day after?) as the pink-shirt anti-bullying day it was bound to seem ironic, ambiguous, and hypocritical to teachers. Such actions are very upsetting and distracting for citizens and teachers in democracies like Canada and therefore not the kind of support that could be used so teachers could spend more time focused on teaching. It undermines the education of our children when; on the one hand teachers tell our children that bullying is wrong, and that Canada is a democracy that is founded on the rule of law; and then on the other hand our governments actions (against teachers no less!) contradict those very statements. Lets face it; its wrong and its shameful. This is Richard Ajabu not the kind of support that allows teachers to spend more time focused on teaching. <redacted> While teachers obviously have self interest in their dispute with the government, there is also a common public interest at stake. We should always be vigilant about defending our fundamental rights, especially against repeat offenders like this government. I hope you will agree that for teachers to do less would not be a very good example for our students, nor would it help teachers in their effort to rid themselves of the bullying behaviour of this government. If teachers did not have to deal with problems like these, then they would have more time to spend focused on teaching. Parent stated, If the conflict was between two children, we would separate them and allow them time to cool off. Then we would act as a mediator and work towards a solution. Why cant both sides agree to do the same? I think teachers would welcome fair mediation or binding arbitration as a short-term solution to this growing crisis. In fact, they already asked for it. An fair and independent binding arbitration process would resolve the problem quickly and allow teachers to spend more time focused on teaching. But the terms of reference for the mediator imposed by Bill 22 require the mediator to mediate any solution so long as its consistent with the governments position at the bargaining table. The government is clearly in a conflict of interest between the public trust to govern according to the rule of law, and the public trust to achieve the best deal that it can. Will that approach support teachers so they can spend more time focused on teaching? The government wants to support teachers so they can spend more time focused on teaching then I think the government should bargain in good faith to achieve the best deal that it can. And if it cant bargain an acceptable deal, then the government should resolve the matter at arms length via binding arbitration or some other similarly fair process.

If we allow the government to trample the Charter rights of a minority in order to get a better deal for the majority, then what are we teaching our children? Humans have already explored that path and it wasnt pretty; thats why we have Charter rights to protect us from majority whims in our democracy. If teachers did not have to deal with such distracting issues then that would allow teachers to spend more time focused on teaching. I made three suggestions on how we can support teachers so they can spend more time focused on teaching in a related comment here. You might also be interested in a related thread here, and this related speech by Supreme Court of Canada Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella. Thanks again, Parent, for your even-handed and constructive comment. From: <Richard Ajabu> Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 3:01 PM To: EDUC BC Education Plan EDUC:EX Subject: RE: Comment # 4047 Unapproved Comment (BC's Education Plan) Hi Moderation Team, You stated, this

appears to be the same post as earlier but unfortunately that is NOT correct; you have made an

error. Please compare my second submission to my first. You will see, in my second submission, that on almost a paragraph-by-paragraph basis I tied my comments directly back to the question asked in that forum, Q10: How could teaching assistants and other supports be used so teachers can spend more time focused on teaching? Here are some excerpts from my second submission, clearly demonstrating how my comments tie back to the question that was asked, and are therefore NOT off-topic: 1. In response to your comment and the question for this forum, I think there are other supports that could be used so teachers could spend more time focused on teaching. 2. It is not a support that could be used so teachers could spend more time focused on teaching 3. A cooling off period could be a support that could be used so teachers could spend more time focused on teaching. 4. Such actions are very upsetting and distracting for citizens and teachers in democracies like Canada and therefore not the kind of support that could be used so teachers could spend more time focused on teaching. 5. If teachers did not have to deal with problems like these, then they would have more time to spend focused on teaching. 6. An fair and independent binding arbitration process would resolve the problem quickly and allow teachers to spend more time focused on teaching. There are several more examples, but I think I have presented enough to support my argument that my second submission is NOT off-topic as was previously determined. I therefore request that my second submission be approved and posted to the BC Education Plan website. Sincerely, Richard Ajabu
From: EDUC BC Education Plan EDUC:EX [mailto:bceducationplan@gov.bc.ca] Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 3:36 PM To: <Richard Ajabu> Subject: RE: Comment # 4047 Unapproved Comment (BC's Education Plan)

Once again Richard, we are trying to keep the political issues currently surrounding education apart from this engagement site so we can concentrate on making changes relating to BC's Education Plan. Therefore we will not be posting your submission.

Moderator <redacted>
From: <Richard Ajabu> Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 5:03 PM To: EDUC BC Education Plan EDUC:EX Subject: RE: Comment # 4047 Unapproved Comment (BC's Education Plan) Hi Moderation Team, I want to appeal this decision. To whom can I escalate this issue? Sincerely, Richard Ajabu From: EDUC BC Education Plan EDUC:EX [mailto:bceducationplan@gov.bc.ca] Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2012 6:56 PM To: <Richard Ajabu> Subject: RE: Comment # 4047 Unapproved Comment (BC's Education Plan)

Hello Richard, Thank you for your ongoing interest in the engagement forum. I would like to respond to your request to post your latest submissions. I am in agreement with our moderators in not posting your comments. We have made an internal decision to move the conversation away from the labour issues. BCs Education Plan Engagement site was put up with the sole purpose of getting input on the plan itself in order to inform policy that can help us transform education. It was not put up as a place to discuss political issues, such as the labour issue. As stated on the engagement page, there are other more appropriate avenues for that. There are many ways to support teachers and students, that dont relate to the current political labour and contract negotiations, that we are interested in hearing about. While we have in the past posted comments that referenced the political debate, we found that these were taking away from the discourse that was the original purpose for the public engagement forum. Therefore we are no longer posting comments that do not meet the original purpose. Regards, <redacted> Citizen Engagement